A 26-Year-Old Media Star Is Finding A Place In Wall Street As An Outsider

It was a sunny, summer afternoon in SoHo just like any other. I was seated at the back of Lucky Strike, reading through tweets and checking 'em...... Just kidding, I'm not gonna do the cheesy 'Paint the Picture' thing every journalist does when they meet someone in person [what's "Doing A Carney" anyway? Thornton seems to think I know].

As many of you know now, Wall Street has a very unique social media scene and shortly after I wrote my article about the various Instagram accounts of finance, I was surprised with comments about how I missed out on one of the more interesting accounts, specifically @MrsDowJones.

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Run by Haley Sacks, @MrsDowJones is one of the only accounts that focus on the female perspective of Wall Street. And, as I scrolled through her posts, I quickly discovered an extra X chromosome wasn't the only thing that separated the account from the herd. It also has a name and a face behind it. All of the other financial memers have to keep their identities a secret, as they work in banking and don’t want to risk their jobs. But, seeing as Haley Sacks, a 26-year-old Manhattan native, works in digital media, she is willing to show her face and publicly embody her persona. She’s not just commenting on Wall Street life through memes, she’s building her brand. And, with almost 30,000 followers, I think it’s working….

Because Sacks grew up around Finance (her Dad works on Wall Street), she has a unique understanding of the world. But some on The Street write off her posts because she’s never had a job in banking. "Some people chirp me for not working in Wall Street, like pretend I’m hiding it from my followers, but I’m really upfront about my background.” She doesn’t let it bother her, thanks to an innate understanding that it's just the nature of the industry.

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Growing up with a Dad who works on Wall Street, finance terms were thrown around all the time but never defined for me. I was always confused but embarrassed to ask for definitions. I felt like an outsider- which I think is a big part of Wall Street culture. They sort of wanna confuse you so it remains exclusive.

And until October 3rd, 2017 Sacks didn't mind being an outsider herself,

So, instead of reading business news, I stuck to celeb gossip. But when Kim Kardashian got robbed in Paris, I realized things had gone too far lol. I was like, woah I need a break. And without any gossip mags to read, I decided to (gasp) reach for financial news instead. It was so random of me, but I sort of surprised myself with how much I took to it/ it shaped my world. Like duh I had to google so much at the beginning and there was a huge learning curve, but I realized that by understanding the markets, I was starting to understand the world. Like a store closing in my area suddenly meant the end of brick and mortar instead of just the end of a local business- it was shaping my perspective. Then I discovered blockchain and cryptos and soon I was full Gordon Gekko- with signaling groups blowing up my phone and alarms set so I could trade in the Chinese market.

And personal educational experiences inspired her to become the public figure she is today.

I feel like there’s gotta be a lot of people who feel as intimidated by finance as I once did, so I wanna help bridge the gap. The ethos of my brand is financial literacy. Like I literally wanna be Suze Orman meets Paris Hilton.

Sacks is right. Financial literacy education for people that don't work in finance is very hard to come across. Well, let me rephrase that: It's not hard to come across content, it's just hard to come across content that is both entertaining and education. Try it. Take a walk through finance YouTube and ask yourself, "Would the average millennial take a break from binge-watching Vine compilations to watch these videos?" The answer is most likely no.

Sacks has experience on YouTube, with a comedic video she previously posted reaching 600k views. And now she is using her producing talents to make finance videos instead. And as much as I love reading Investopedia, I must admit that the pure entertainment quality is superior to anything you'll find in the same field.

Haley Sacks is revolutionizing financial education for individuals outside of the field, and she continues to shape her brand. She's launched a merchandise line, has gone to financial conferences to cover the industry and even plans on launching a podcast before the end of the summer. Make sure to follow her on her journey to establish herself as, "The Cardi B of Finance Merch."

Intern's Note: Haley and I started off on a rough note because I didn't have a glass or rosé waiting for her upon arrival. However, I quickly learned she's able to forgive small mistakes (the best quality about someone if you're an intern like myself) and we had a wonderful conversation. Make sure to check out @MrsDowJones on Instagram, Youtube, and Twitter.